"A Little TLC" (a.k.a. "TLC") is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Terry Britten,[1][2][3] about needing tender loving care. The song is registered with the ISWC[4] and has been recorded by a number of artists, starting with Philippine born, Japanese soul singer Marlene (known in the US primarily for her work with Seawind),[5] where it was one of the tracks on her jazz/soul/funk album Looking for Love, recorded in Los Angeles and released on CBS/Sony in 1984.[6][7][8] The album was re-issued on CD with the song featuring as track 8 on CD on 25 July 1991,[9] and again on 8 November 2017 on Sony Records International.[10]

The band behind the children's real life/animation combination television show Kidd Video, also played the song on the TV show and it was sung by Bryan Scott as the character "Kidd Video" at the end of the first episode of the series in September 1984,[11][12] as well as the last song in the final episode of the series "Who's in the Kitchen with Dinah?" transmitted on December 7, 1985.[13] It was also featured as a track on the 1986 album The T.V. Show Hits, credited to 'Kidd Video' and produced by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban.[14] It was released both as a vinyl album and on cassette by the CBS label.[15][16][17] The band reportedly toured Israel to support the release of the album in 1987.[18]

Hong Kong actor and singer Samuel Hui (Sam Hui) recorded a Chinese version of the song entitled 心思思 "Xin Si Si" (translated as "Mind thinking").[19] Both the Cantonese and English language versions of the song were featured in his 1986 action movie Aces Go Places IV a.k.a. Mad Mission 4: You Never Die Twice,[20]. The Cantonese lyrics were written by Lin Zhenqiang and the song was one of the 1986 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs.[21][22] It won the ninth annual ten Chinese Golden Melody Awards.[23] The song was awarded "Best Original Film Song" at the second Hong Kong Film Awards.[24] It was the lead track of his album Live In Hong Kong, and was a track on his 1986 album Re Li Zhi Guan (Crown of Heat").[25] A remix of the song was released on the 1987 Sam Hui album Xin Qu Yu Jing Xuan,[26] and more recently was included on the CD, Nan Wan Hsu Guan Jie Sam Hui 30 Nian (30 Years of Hits from Sam Hui).[27]

Boy band Menudo from Puerto Rico, referred to as the "Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band" and ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by several publications, including Us Weekly, Seventeen, and Teen Vogue[28][29] released their version entitled "TLC" on their first English language US album Sons of Rock, which was produced by Papo Gely. It was released in 1988 with Ricky Martin as the lead singer of the song,[30] and it was one of the songs played on their successful 1989 Sons of Rock tour.[31][32][33][34]

De Paul's own version of "A Little TLC" was recorded during the same sessions for her 1994 album Just a Little Time, but the song was not selected as one of the album's tracks. It was finally released on the official Lynsey de Paul Music Store.[35]

References edit

  1. ^ "A Little Tlc | Warner/Chappell Music". Nashville.warnerchappell.com. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  2. ^ "A Little Tlc | Warner/Chappell Music". Warnerchappell.com. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  3. ^ "TERRY BRITTEN | Biography | MusicMinder, the Premier Entertainers Directory". Musicminder.com. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  4. ^ "ISWC: Portal". Iswcnet.cisac.org. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Marlene dela Pena: Acclaimed Pinay jazz artist in Japan!". 14 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Marlene (16) - Looking For Love (Vinyl, LP)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  7. ^ "La Bible de la Westcoast Music - Cool Night -: Marlene "Looking For Love" (1984) -Westcoast Rock". Labibledelawestcoast.blogspot.com. 2015-11-28. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  8. ^ "Marlene [JP] - A Little T.L.C". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  9. ^ "Marlene - Looking For Love". Discogs.com. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Looking For Love [Low-priced Reissue] Marlene CD Album". Cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Kidd Video (1984– ) : Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  12. ^ "To Beat The Band - Kidd Video Flipside". Kvflipside.org. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Who's in the Kitchen with Dinah - Kidd Video Flipside". Kvflipside.org. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  14. ^ "A Little T.L.C. by Marlene". WhoSampled.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Kidd Video - The TV Show Hits (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  16. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  17. ^ "Kidd Video - The TV Show Hits". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  18. ^ "Music - Kidd Video Flipside". Kvflipside.org. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Samuel Hui - IMDb". M.imdb.com. 1992-03-18. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  20. ^ "Mad Mission 3 (1984)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  21. ^ "歷年十大中文金曲頒獎音樂會". Rthk.org.hk. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  22. ^ "Lynsey de Paul's Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at". Last.fm. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  23. ^ "资料:1986年度十大中文金曲(第九届颁奖礼)_影音娱乐_新浪网". Ent.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  24. ^ "香港電影金像獎". Hkfaa.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  25. ^ "BTB: Re Li Zhi Guan - Sam Hui - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  26. ^ "Samuel Hui - Xin Qu Yu Jing Xuan 新曲與精選 (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  27. ^ "Nan Wan Hsu Guan Jie Sam Hui 30 Nian - Sam Hui | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  28. ^ "Radio Swiss Jazz - Musikdatenbank - Musiker". Radioswissjazz.ch. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  29. ^ "Menudo". Musicbrainz.org.
  30. ^ https://top40-charts.com/artist.php?aid=32
  31. ^ "Menudo - Sons Of Rock (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  32. ^ "Sons of Rock - Menudo | User Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  33. ^ "Menudo - TLC - Ricky Martin Video Free Download". Music-Videos-Download.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-01. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  34. ^ "Menudo - T.L.C". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  35. ^ "A Little TLC - From the Album 'Words Don't Mean a Thing' - LdP Music Store". Lynseydepaul.com. 2010-07-05. Archived from the original on 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-10-25.